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[deleted] t1_iypb508 wrote

Reply to comment by FasterDoudle in Woman’s name and tiny sketches found in 1,300-year-old medieval text | Old English name, Eadburg, repeatedly scored into manuscript had remained hidden for more than 12 centuries by ArtOak

Sadly not during that time period. Most peasant kids (and adults) never learned to read or write. Education was a privilege for the relatively well off up until fairly recently (late 19th / early 20th century).

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Aselleus t1_iypqxuo wrote

...I mean rich educated children existed back then.

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Allidoischill420 t1_iypxrrp wrote

And they were likely taught to write more than their name........

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Cethinn t1_iyq24oo wrote

But they still do need to learn their name at some point. It's almost like we are seeing a tiny fragment of what someone did in their life and shouldn't expect to see all of their education just because they also learned other things, if this is what happened.

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theredwoman95 t1_iyqittg wrote

The manuscript was kept in an abbey until the 1500s - abbeys were often used as schools for aristocratic children and would also educate peasant children given to them as initiates (who sometimes would decide against becoming a monk or nun as an adult). It's entirely possible this was the case here.

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OldMollyOxford t1_iyqk4z9 wrote

Eadburg is very unlikely to be a name given more than a generation or two after the Norman Conquest though! So I don’t think you’d find it among later medieval schoolchildren or their crushes.

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theredwoman95 t1_iyqk9z1 wrote

I've actually been looking at the Winchester pipe rolls (basically accounts of the bishop's tenants) lately, which started in the first decade of the 1200s, and you still see quite a significant amount of Old English names. It's maybe 10% of women's names at most, and not many women appear in the first place, but it's still enough that I wouldn't rule the post-Conquest period out.

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[deleted] t1_iyr2170 wrote

True! And a few of these names survived until more recent times as well. The last Old English feminine name to die out was Ethel, and that was just during the past century. There are a few masc OE names that survive today, but are rarely used (Edmund, Robert, Edward; all more common a few generations ago).

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ZweitenMal t1_iyr8lfn wrote

Edward and Robert are hardly extinct names. Edmund and Ethel are less common but these names are still in use. Edward is actually an excellent name—I named my son Edward.

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[deleted] t1_iyrypp7 wrote

You may have misunderstood me — Edward was my example of an Old English name that is NOT extinct. It’s cool and timeless, and Ed / Eddie is a fun nickname.

And people are still naming their kids Ethel? The only one I ever met was my Great Aunt’s friend who was ninety years old 25 years ago (she would be 115 today).

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ZweitenMal t1_iys4a3s wrote

I mean I would not be surprised to see the name Ethel be revived.

You said Edward and Robert are "rarely used" which is far from correct.

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ImaginaMagica t1_iyrkri1 wrote

How long did ink last on a page in that time period? Maybe the drawings predated the names by a wide margin. Like the person practicing their name was just using whatever space was left on the pages.

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willun t1_iypgvtd wrote

It only needed one person to do this, though.

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Knows_all_secrets t1_iyt8lje wrote

You can't use literacy was uncommon as a justification when we've already by definition filtered for someone who does write. Because this is about them writing.

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